


Before the Performance

by EveningWrites



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 14:09:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20116369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EveningWrites/pseuds/EveningWrites
Summary: Again, the time of the ritual approaches. Grimm has made peace with his coming death and the rebirth to follow. His musician, however, doesn't seem to be prepared for the coming performance. Perhaps there is a way Grimm can soothe his dear companion's worries?





	Before the Performance

**Author's Note:**

> This is very short, but I hope you guys can enjoy it! Maybe someday I'll be able to produce longer content and be confident enough to post it-- For now! Please enjoy the little thing I wrote, inspired by the writings of a friend! :-D

Grimm stands on a cliff’s edge, taking in the view below. Ruined cities sit in the valley before him, the few survivors of great tragedy trying to make do and rebuild what once was. To him, it’s the sorrowful stage of the next ritual performance. Though, that isn’t to say he doesn’t feel for those below -- quite the opposite, really. This simply isn’t the first time he and his troupe have been drawn to a land such as this and he’s found ways to make peace with the feelings of mourning and the regrets that hang heavy in the air in these places. So he turns to his friends with a bit of a flourish and says simply, “Now, my friends, we wait.”

For the lantern to be lit.

For the ritual’s beginning.

For the death and the rebirth, the cycle that shall always be.

(The cycle that sometimes brings such pain. The cycle he himself sometimes regrets, though he knows truly it is necessary.)

Grimm does not dread the ritual this time though. As he returns to the tents, Brumm and Divine following close behind, Grimm holds that thought in his mind. He does not dread the ritual itself, for with it, this dead land will be revived in scarlet flame. He does not dread his own death, for he will always come back in the memories of the next troupe master. Rather, he dreads bringing such sorrow to his friends in the troupe as with the mourning bugs below. All of them have seen their fair share of death, destruction, and pain... That does not make it terribly easy to bear, though. They can make peace as he has, but there will always be a weight to come with the ritual, the loss of someone important to you.

For that reason, it somewhat confuses the troupe master of his friends’ choice to stay. Perhaps for Divine, he can understand -- that cryptic, devil of a bug has little to return to, nor would she wish to if she did, he supposes. She’s confided in him many times that she quite enjoys the travelling, the meeting new faces...the...eating. Death is just another part of life to Divine -- be it product of a hunt, disaster, or other, perhaps more natural, causes -- so she has very little care as to the dreadful sites they may be called to. She will have little issue with his passing, though it may still give her some trouble as the time draws nearer.

Brumm, however, is not so easily soothed in the face of death. The musician, though a bug of few words, always seems to have much on his mind, especially as the ritual starts to close in. He’s been here quite some time, reincarnated with the troupe master, remembered the past lives, the past rituals. As Grimm dies, Brumm will be released from the troupe to live out the rest of his life in peace, until the next reincarnation in which he will return and he will remember, broken as the memories may become across lives. He may not speak of it, but Grimm doesn’t miss the way he often seems much more somber and tired during this time of waiting for the ritual’s coming. His songs lose some of their energy -- a true shame, for the way he plays is so comforting and the troupe master always enjoys it. Grimm worries for his kind companion. He wishes he could do something for him, but he’s not as good with these things as he’d like to be. He can recall one of the past troupe masters who was, and how he wishes terribly that ability to soothe and calm troubled minds had been passed down to him. However, Grimm is determined to try nonetheless.

As they reach the tents, Grimm turns to his friends with a thin smile. “If you do not mind, my friends, I will be retiring to my room for a while. I wish not to be disturbed as I rest a bit before the ritual. Alright?”

Divine nods. “Fine dearie, but you might not want to sleep in _too_ late. Something in this land smells quite interesting…” She inhales deeply and chuckles, covering her mouth with a claw. “I might just run off down there without you.”

That coaxes a more relaxed smile out of Grimm as he glares at her playfully. “Oh, don’t go causing trouble down there already. I don’t need you terrorizing and/or eating the audience we’d have.”

She snorts. “Love to see you stop me when you’re sleeping.”

With that, she slinks off to her own tent, leaving alone the troupe master and his musician. Brumm starts to take his leave as well, but Grimm stops him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. Brumm turns to face him and the troupe master pulls his hand up to his chest, glancing off to the side a moment. “Ah, my dear musician,” he starts, giving Brumm a soft look of concern, “are...are you alright?”

Brumm simply nods in reply.

“You know, if-if there is anything troubling you, I am here to listen! I may not be very, ah, good at comforting, or perhaps I am the problem? If so, please tell me, or leave if you must… I’d hate to keep you if you are unhappy, or if something is too much?”

Brumm just seems to stare at the ground a moment and Grimm’s voice halts in his throat, unsure what else to say. Then, his musician looks up and steps forward a bit. “Mrm… Master, I am fine--”

“You clearly are not,” Grimm interjects, but he stops as Brumm’s look hardens.

“Please, master, let me finish…” Grimm nods, and Brumm lets out a breath, relaxing again. “I am fine...I’m just...going to miss you very much, master… I care very much for you and...I am not ready to see you go, I suppose. But I will be fine, I assure you… Please do not worry yourself over me, master…”

Grimm shakes his head, a wry smile playing at the corner of his lips. “But I must worry, dear musician. I’d hate you to mourn my death before I’m even gone! I’d hate for you to feel that kind of loss at all. You know we’ll all end up together again, so I promise you, you don’t have to miss me when I’ll be always be back.”

“Back in different form, a different life,” Brumm corrects softly. “That’s what upsets me. We never come back quite the same and...I’ll miss _you_.”

“Ah…”

Grimm falls quiet a moment, then gets an idea. “Well, as I am not dead yet, why don’t we go see the cities here? We can enjoy each other’s company fully before I am gone.”

Brumm looks somewhat surprised. “But I thought you wanted to rest?”

Grimm smiles. “Rest can wait -- I shall have plenty time to rest before and during the ritual.”

“But what of Divine? Surely we cannot leave her alone out here?”

Grimm cackles at that. “Ah, she can easily take care of herself. We’d have more trouble were she to sneak off into the city as well.”

“Master, I’m just not sure I can--”

Grimm takes Brumm’s hand and the words die on the musician’s tongue. “Please, Brumm, leave your worries here. Let us take time to enjoy ourselves before the performance.” Brumm hesitates, then closes his hand around Grimm’s as well.

“Mrmm...I suppose I can do that.”

“Good, because I do think I saw some interesting shops and attractions already starting to pop up in the towns down there -- it’d be a shame if we didn’t get to enjoy them properly before the ritual.” He chuckles. “Or, perhaps this land may just resurrect itself without our assistance. The folks down there seem to be quite productive, even in the face of despair -- an example I suppose many could learn from.”

“I have no idea what you were talking about earlier master,” Brumm begins and Grimm tilts his head curiously. “Mrmm… You are excellent at comfort. I think you just think too much…”

Grimm gives Brumm an amused look. “As if you don’t do the same. Now, let’s not linger any longer. I think it’s time we see the stage for the next performance, yes?”

“Of course, master…”

Grimm grins brightly and in a puff of red smoke the two disappear to the land far below.


End file.
